Sambal Sotong/ Spicy Squid

Sambal Sotong is a dish cooked with fresh squid (I used octopus) in a classic Malay sauce; a hearty spicy sauce made with chillies, onions, garlic, tomatoes, tamarind paste and dried shrimp paste also known as Belacan. Sambal Sotong is also a popular accompaniment to Singaporean local dish – Nasi Lemak.

Ingredients

800 g Squid/ Octopus (cleaned and cut)

2 Tomatoes (chopped)

4 cloves of Garlic

1 Onion (sliced)

2 Red bird’s eye chilli

1 1/2 tsp Palm sugar or Dark brown sugar

1 tbsp Tamarind pulp

4 tbsp Chilli paste

2 tsp Shrimp paste

Salt to taste

2 tsp Dark soy sauce

1 cup Water

Vegetable oil

Method

Soften tamarind pulp in 60 ml boiling water in a bowl for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Add soy sauce and sugar, and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Heat oil in a large wok or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add in the garlic and onions and stir fry for about 5-6 minutes.

Now add in the tomatoes and saute until it softens. Mix in the shrimp paste, chilli paste, tamarind liquid and water. Simmer till the sauce thickens.

Add the squid/ octopus and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, make sure not to over cook them.

Transfer it to a serving dish and let it sit for 5-8 minutes allowing the squid to absorb all the flavours. Serve with lime and turmeric rice (nasi kunyit).